What time is it? = standard question (To be more polite, add "please" in conversation.) You can ask, "What's the time?" when you are talking about other time zones: It's 9:00 a.m. in Boston. What time is it in London?/ What's the time in London? Also, if I'm holding the clock and often changing the time, I can ask the student to identify the different times with that question: What's the time (now)?